I finally got to Raleigh today to go to my favorite local (well, a little over an hour but close enough!) tea shop. I was supposed to go in and just buy some Fuzzy Navel to compare to Madame Butterfly, but my bestie mentioned that she wanted some greens for her cupboard so I had to look for a green I thought she would like, and the owner is evil evil evil – no, wait, he was just trying to make me happy – and made me smell the Ti Kuan Yin and I had to buy that, and I finally caved and bought this one! I really HAD to because one of my daughters is named Anna.
They were gracious enough to sell me the tea split into two bags so I can send half of it to her boyfriend in N. Ireland. AND they offered to do a special blend for me to replicate a tea I can’t get anymore, so I am pretty excited about that!
Isn’t it great when you buy something for a silly reason and discover that you love it? I steeped this for 3 minutes, right in the middle of their recommended steep time, and it is delicious. It is not bitter at all, there is no astringency, you can taste the black tea base just fine, and the raspberries are so sweet and fruity, with the yogurt lending a creaminess so the raspberries are never tart. This is quite a winner!
Want to save a fortune on buying Marco Polo? Try this. It is smoother. It is less fussy to make. You won’t be missing a thing, and the price is great – about half the price of Marco. And it is absolutely perfect without sugar or milk. If you were inclined to add those, I think this could probably handle it just fine.
